Pipe bomb attack on a house in Poppintree Park, Ballymun, Dublin
A man and a teenager have sustained injuries following a terrifying petrol bomb assault in Ballymun.
Disturbing images that have spread rapidly across social media show the extensive destruction after both a house and vehicle were torched in the Belclare area of Ballymun, north Dublin during the early morning hours today. This attack follows mere days after another separate incident in Ballymun where a grenade caused substantial damage.
Emergency services, including gardaí and Dublin Fire Brigade, raced to the scene at approximately 5:30am on Friday morning and successfully put out the blaze that had consumed the car on the driveway and caused damage to the property’s front. A man in his 40s suffered injuries while attempting to assist those caught in the fire attack.
He was subsequently transported to hospital with injuries not considered life threatening. An 18 year old girl, who was inside the property, was removed from the building and rushed to hospital with non life threatening injuries, reports the Irish Mirror.
Pipe bomb attack on a house in Poppintree Park, Ballymun, Dublin
Sources indicate that neither of the injured parties were the intended targets of the attack. Gardaí issued a statement saying: “Gardaí in Ballymun are appealing for witnesses following a fire at a residential property on Belclare Avenue, Ballymun, in the early hours of Friday, 15th May 2026. The alarm was raised shortly after 5:30am.
“An 18-year-old woman was evacuated from the house and taken to hospital, while a man in his 40s who responded to the incident was also transported to hospital. “Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Dublin Fire Services extinguished the fire and made the scene safe. Garda Crime Scene personnel are currently examining the property,” they added.
The assault occurred merely three days following a grenade detonation in the Hampton Wood district of Ballymun in an unrelated incident, which authorities are connecting to an intensifying criminal conflict in the locality. Residents in the vicinity described feeling the explosion from multiple streets away when the device went off, scattering shrapnel in various directions – just after midnight on Tuesday morning.
The grenade attack represents one of numerous incidents in a dispute between extremely young offenders which sources indicate can be traced back at minimum two years, and which intensified with the now-classified murder of local resident, Kevin Kelly.
Kevin Kelly, 23, was intentionally struck by a vehicle on Balbutcher Lane in the early hours of 28th June last year – with gardaí recently classifying the death as a suspected murder. It is now understood that enraged associates of the young man are involved in a brutal retaliatory conflict with a rival group that has witnessed gunfire and multiple assault incidents over the past year.
Damage to house after a grenade exploded outside a property in Ballymun(Image: Collins)
In recent months the criminal gangs have also been brazenly provoking each other on social media – even threatening to execute additional attacks similar to the one that took Mr Kelly’s life.
Sources indicate there is also considerable alarm over the reality that those implicated – while predominantly in their teens – seem to have access to dangerous weaponry. The terrifying incident unfolded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when a grenade shattered windows on both floors of properties throughout the Hampton Wood area. This comes just weeks after a child discharged a handgun into the air – having picked it up after it was dropped by a criminal who was being chased by gardaí in the vicinity.
Speaking to The Irish Mirror earlier this week, local People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy described the attack as deeply troubling, yet unsurprising, given that residents have been enduring daily incidents amid an escalating feud.
“It’s shocking but not surprising. We’ve had a feud running on for well over a year now and a more recent escalation in the last month or two. We had the really shocking story of the child who found the gun and fired it and we had a gun found in Coultry park. More unreported has been the daily attacks that people are witnessing – attacks at shops, shots fired at houses. It’s really worrying and I think it’s only a matter of time before someone innocent gets caught in the crossfire here and gets seriously hurt or killed,” he said.
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